Wednesday, May 11, 2005

The cognitive dissonance between taking a public program for paying retirement benefits to workers and making it private, on the one hand, and taking a private program for paying retirement benefits and making it public, on the other, might at first seem overwhelming. But the two are in fact easy to harmonize. Nobody gets rich manipulating the Social Security system that benefits millions. A much smaller number of Wall Street types will get rich(er) if it is privatized.

None of the retired UAL employees will get rich from their pensions. But a few folks will get richer by dumping that liability on the US government. Simple, no? Just the new utilitarianism -- the greatest good for the smallest number.